Generally, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device is a user equipment (UE) that is used by a machine for a specific application. An example of an MTC device is a smart meter. Some of these smart meters are located in basements, which suffer from high penetration loss and therefore it is difficult for the MTC device to communicate with the network.
Repetition of physical channels is the main mechanism to extend the coverage of MTC UEs. The number of repetitions are expected to be significant (i.e., possibly hundreds of repetitions). Repetitions would reduce spectral efficiency and due to this, several coverage levels have been suggested such that UEs at a lower coverage level (i.e., closer to a base station or enhanced NodeB (eNB)) would require less repetitions compared to those that are at a higher coverage level. Improvement to the spectral efficiency is therefore highly beneficial.